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Post by Scott on Aug 10, 2020 12:57:04 GMT -5
When I was younger and we played with minis on a regular basis, I used to buy giant sheets of 1” graph paper at office supply stores and draw color floor plans for certain encounters. Some of the ToEE temples looked really good.
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Post by GRWelsh on Aug 10, 2020 14:07:07 GMT -5
The T1-4 temples have some of my favorite Gygax prose descriptions. Very evocative. The 2003 video game did them justice visually. Unfortunately that game was buggy and based on the 3.5e rules. I had to buy the game just to see the visuals, though. If that game had gameplay similar to Baldur's Gate, it would have been an all time classic.
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Post by Scott on Aug 10, 2020 14:54:44 GMT -5
Yeah, that was one of the all time biggest disappointments.
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Post by grodog on Aug 10, 2020 22:31:05 GMT -5
There was a significant bug patch that fixed many issues, as I recall, but I never played the game personally. I probably still have the patch file if you're looking for it?
Allan.
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Post by GRWelsh on Aug 11, 2020 13:55:40 GMT -5
Thanks Allan, but I don't need it. I was able to play through it the entire way one time, and haven't really felt the desire to play it again since.
I'd say it is worth doing once if you a Greyhawk fan.
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Post by Scott on Aug 22, 2020 23:21:02 GMT -5
After two weeks the party was completely unprepared, and spent a lot of time arguing about how to get into the fire giants’ lair. Finally, Corbek polymorphed himself with a potion into a fire giant, and about half the party followed him invisibly into the Hall. Corbek, who also cast a tongues spell on himself, went right to the hidden guard station behind a tapestry. There was a fire giant there. He told him he was on patrol and he thought he saw something coming. He convinced the giant to step outside to look. Once outside they quickly killed the giant. Back inside Corbek explored up the hall and ran into the ettin manning the ballista, asked him if he had anything to eat, and then returned to the hidden guard station where the party was waiting. After a few minutes planning Corbek walked back to the ettin with Ember following invisibly. Ember used Daoud’s Wondrous Lanthorn and held the ettin. Corbek dragged him down the hall before it was noticed. The party then snuck through the western end of the great hall and started exploring the lair. More to come.
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Post by Scott on Sept 14, 2020 20:44:46 GMT -5
I didn’t detail the party’s encounter with Obmi. Unfortunately, too many of Gygax’s NPCs end up being bastards, and now the party doesn’t trust anybody. The party started the divination magic before they even let him out. They knew he was bad news and attacked him. I really tried to have him escape, but the party is just piwerful in that situation.
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Post by Scott on Oct 27, 2020 21:40:47 GMT -5
The king, and the drow, value Obmi's advice, so he has been raised. He's recovering in an out of the way room in the Hall, and if the party doesn't find him, he may be encountered again, and he has motivation to become a reoccurring enemy.
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Post by Scott on Oct 28, 2020 8:35:53 GMT -5
Speaking of Obmi, do most people assume that his hammer is supposed to be a Dwarven Thrower? In the module is just says +3 hammer. At the time the adventure was published the only +3 hammer was the Dwarven Thrower, and I remember Gary talking about the Obmi entry and making a comment like 'I could have sworn I gave him a Dwarven Thrower'.
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Post by grodog on Oct 31, 2020 20:37:33 GMT -5
At least based on the novels it would be a Dwarven Thrower.
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Post by Scott on Nov 12, 2020 16:33:31 GMT -5
You'd think I'd have more free time during a pandemic. Most of the fall activities have come to an end, and I will finally be able to get this rolling again this week. I was able to crank out a bunch of Roll20 maps during the off hours, so looking to see how that goes.
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Post by Scott on Nov 15, 2020 1:23:42 GMT -5
Back into the hall this evening. There are stretches of the G series that are just slogs. That’s what G3 has been so far, just wave after wave of fire giants with very little progress. They ended the night by finally killing Snurre, on the third try, and it was Only a well placed slow spell that kept him from escaping again. Too tired to go into detail now,
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Post by Scott on Nov 16, 2020 15:03:56 GMT -5
The party has the resources to try to be more stealthy, but they keep trying the kick in the door approach. Most of the male giants are dead, but they haven’t made it much further than the door they keep kicking in. Eclavdra is going to have Boldo released from the dungeon and installed as the de facto leader. Masses of trolls are being pulled up from the lower dungeons to reinforce the depleted door guard. Depending on how it goes they may give up trying to hold the upper level after another party incursion.
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Post by Scott on Nov 18, 2020 13:34:59 GMT -5
One thing this party does, and it’s been common with my players through the years, is not use the potions they find. They just get bigger and bigger potion collections as they go. And they’re about to all get ruined when they start having encounters with the drow and their dispel magic ability. Do you imagine a change in the potions appearance when that happens?
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Post by GRWelsh on Nov 19, 2020 8:00:35 GMT -5
Maybe it could be like when soda goes flat. No more fizz.
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Post by Scott on Nov 19, 2020 9:04:38 GMT -5
I've pictured some potions as luminous, almost like Herbert West's Re-Animator strum, or at least a vibrant color. Once dispelled he glow could would be gone, or the potion would go from being a bright, colorful loquid to looking like a water sample from a stagnant pond.
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Post by GRWelsh on Nov 19, 2020 9:58:48 GMT -5
I like that idea, as it is very cinematic. However, something tells me that EGG wouldn't tip off players with such a hint but would let them go on assuming their potions still are effective. That could lead to a nasty shock!
It reminds me of your story when you were playing a gnome who thought he had a Ring of Feather Falling but really it was a Ring of Delusion, and you willingly jumped into a deep pit thinking you'd be fine.
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Post by Scott on Nov 23, 2020 18:00:24 GMT -5
Another casualty of dispel magic will be Jastra the elf. She buffs with a strength spell before every adventure. She also throws up a lot of wall spells that the party has relied on for protection and for keeping opponents from escaping. I am looking forward to the confused faces when the old tricks stop working.
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Post by Scott on Nov 29, 2020 0:15:31 GMT -5
Starday, Goodmonth 1st, 577 CY. The party has spent the prior day resting and healing. After a quick breakfast, and time spent praying and studying to memorize spells, they are now ready to return to the Hall of the Fire Giant King. The temperature and humidity are both in the 80s as the party makes its way along the ravine that will take them back to the fire giants’ lair. Dark clouds and volcanic ash block most of the sunlight, and the air smells of burnt rock and volcanic gasses. The party’s plan, again, is to march up to the front door, kick it in, and kill everything the encounter. The fire giants are on guard, and spot the party approaching. The party sees the front gates of the giants’ stronghold open and two fire giants emerge. Corbek the cleric pulls his cube of force out of his pouch and activates it as the giants hurl boulders at the party. Hudled around Corbek, the party advances slowly as boulders crash around them and bounce off of the force field. After two rounds the giants retreat back inside and close the doors behind them. A minute later the party reaches the entrance. It’s approximately 9:00 AM. Corbek deactivates the cube of force and the party fans out in front of the doors. Jastra casts a knock spell on the huge portal and a door swings open. Two fire giants and an ettin immediately rush the party. As the giants start to drop, the party sees a mob of large humanoids approaching to reinforce the door guard, 9’+ tall, putrid gray skin, iron gray hair, and dead black eyes; trolls native to the Hell Furnaces. Having been fighting fire giants for so long, the party does not have any fire spells ready, but two lightning bolts are enough to finish off the giants and take out most of the trolls. Two flame tongues and several flasks of oil finish the trolls off. As the party proceeded into the Hall, more boulders started bouncing down the hall at them. Ahead they could see five more fire giants (including Boldo) with a pair of hell hounds. The cube of force was activated again and the party moved on the giants, After a round, Boldo, two fire giants, and the hell hounds fled towards the passage to the second level, leaving two giants as a rear guard. The party quickly killed them. Back in the great hall the party debated following the giants that fled, or examining the secret door the found behind the throne. Before doing either they decided to look behind the tapestries in the great hall and found another passage going south, and they decided to go south. The found three sets of huge iron doors, one set decorated with the flaming skull symbol they saw earlier behind the throne. All the doors were too large and heavy for the party to open, and they had no more knocks, so they turned around to head back to the great hall. On the way they ran into a giant patrol consisting of four giants and several hell hounds. The party killed the monsters, but they took a lot of damage in the process. During the battle. Corbek had a eureka! moment, and remembered the jars of Nolzur’s Marvelous PigmentsIt’s he had in his backpack. After the battle the clerics dished out some cures and returned to the doors with the flaming skull symbol on them. Using the magic pigments, Corbek painted a smaller door on the bottom of the huge iron doors, and the party entered. They were immediately attacked by four hell hounds, which they were able to quickly kill. Beyond the found what they guessed was the king’s chamber. A search turned up nothing of real value, frustrating the party greatly. They then backtracked to choose another door to paint on. To be continued.
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Post by Scott on Nov 29, 2020 10:58:41 GMT -5
The party picked a set of doors going west. Corbek painted another small door on the huge iron door, and the party went through. There was a long hallway, decorated with large tapestries, with a chamber at the end. Four giantesses were seated around a table talking, but immediately rose and started shouting at the party. Plāsolder’s magic helmet allowed him to understand, but not speak. “Who are you?” “What are you doing in here?” Get out of the queen’s chambers!” The party were preparing to attack when the tapestry at their right was flung aside and five more giantesses entered. One obviously appeared to be a queen, huge and ugly, but covered in jewelry, carrying a scepter, and dressed much haughtier than the others. She spoke in common, “Who dares disturb the queen?” The party rather clumsily replied, “We bring a message from Ecla, Ecliv, What was her name? Eclacdra. Yeah, Eclavdra, we bring a message from Eclavdra.” The queen replied. “Well, I am a queen. You must first show proper respect and kneel in the august presence of a queen. Then you can state your business, so that we may fairly dispose of your humble requests”. The party tried to speak again, but the queen cut them off, “Kneel!” And there was a moment when I thought they would. But they dropped the ruse ad attacked. The queen and her ladies were tougher than the party expected, but they killed them all in a few rounds, destroying with lightning bolts more jewelry than they’d like to think about. They then went about looting the place. Two giant weasels that appeared to be furs on the bed surprised them, but did no damage, and two chests had poisonous snakes in them, both surprised the party, but were killed without causing any harm. The party resorted to magic and with the aid of detect traps, detect magic, and true seeing they were able to find all of the valuable and magic, including a jeweled pendant that the drow use as a wizard eye to spy. Almost completely out of spells, the party returned to their camp.
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